10 Unexpectedly Awesome Netflix TV Shows That Need Binge Watching
4. Dark
Debuting in December 2017, Netflix’s first German-language original series is clever, atmospheric and sophisticated television, beginning with a fairly traditional missing-kids-in-a-small-town mystery and flowering into something unexpected and odd as the narrative unfolds.
The first season sees generations of conflict between four families in the German town of Winden begin to unravel in increasingly unsettling ways, as the protagonists in three different time periods become aware of the manifestation of something weird in the caves beneath them.
While comparison with Stranger Things, its contemporary on Netflix, are unavoidable, Dark has as much in common with It, Lost and Twin Peaks. Season two saw an expansion of the show’s mythology, adding storylines in an additional two timelines without any sacrifice of narrative cohesion, a surprising and still breathtaking achievement in storytelling.
A third and final season is currently being filmed. It’s already a towering story, powerfully told: if Dark continues to build on what’s gone before, it could be ready to escape its influences to stand alongside them as one of the greats.